World Affairs Board - View Single Post

Galrahn · 04-18-2007, 16:21 PM

USNS GYSGT Fred W. Stockham (T-AK 3017) was modified a few years ago to improve its medical facility, enlarge its hanger, and change its inventory to focus around mobile equipment for special operations instead of traditionally heavy equipment usually deployed on pre-positioning ships. The famous quote is that "it is out doing work we really can't talk about."

The Stockham has been successful, to the point the Navy is now planning to deploy the LSD-49s for dedicated to GWOT missions. The intention appears to scale up the capability beyond what the Stockham can provide, specifically adding the deployment of more, smaller naval forces and other attachments to augment SOF forces based on lessons learned in theaters like Iraq and Afghanistan.

Back to the GFS...

I haven't seen anything official outside the 2006 NOC, so my opinions carry no official weight.

It seems to me GFS is basically three main categories, with each category containing a series of missions that taken together are intended to 'shape and influence' regional affairs. Those categories would be Governmental, Non-Governmental, and Military.

Governmental
The Global Fleet Station would be an interface between US government agencies and regional local law enforcement officials, civil and military authorities, and private citizens to assess host nation needs and build working relationships. The Global Fleet Station would be the supporting element for official government activity and exchange, an enabler and sometimes the provider of capabilities required to meet local needs and challenges. This activity could include anything from assessment support for the Dept. of Agriculture on local farmland to Bird Flu research in association with the US Dept. of Health. In this category, the GFS is a supporting element, while governmental agencies take the lead. By forward deploying important capabilities on the GFS, examples could be medical teams or Seabees, the Global Fleet Station provides significant leverage in key areas of infrastructure to local populations that provide options to local US government officials that might not otherwise be available.

Non-Governmental
The Global Fleet Station role in NGO support to regional problems provides a unique opportunity for the United States to effect shaping operations. It is not uncommon to see NGOs active in the regions targeted for Global Fleet Stations, whether it is a Christian missionary in remote parts of a country or business interests in a populated regional port. The GFS role would range from crisis management response coordination to influencing social issues like rebuilding a local school that burned down or providing fresh water to the local population in a flooded region. Depending upon the make up of the detachments to the GFS, influence should range beyond the humanitarian to also include infrastructure improvement and developing a better understanding of regional commercial concerns.

Military
Despite the enabling of governmental and non-governmental influence in the region, the Global Fleet Station will consist mostly of military forces, even in provisioning for other categories of influence. The GFS military role would be to develop full maritime domain awareness of the maritime region to insure security in its AOR, while also engaging in information gathering within the region to understand the dynamics beyond the beach. This information building capability would then facilitate cooperation on a regional level, and thus directly enable other military operations including forward maritime security operations, sea control, deterrence, security cooperation, counterinsurgency, counterterrorism, counter-proliferation, air and missile defense, and other information operations.

It is through naval presence, crisis response, expeditionary power projection, and civil-military operations I believe the Global Fleet Station offers a unique opportunity to enable US strategy in getting proactive during peacetime in deterrence of activity that leads to conflict.

You have mentioned people, and I think you bring up a good point, unfortunately I don't believe the Navy is going to have all the answers quickly. The education and training concerns you have raised are not specific to the GFS concept, as you noted it is a larger cultural issue within the Navy, something that appears to be in discussion and in play as evident by numerous articles recently in Proceedings, and press conference statements by the NCO. However, those issues are separate to the GFS concept, and in fact are addressed independent of GFS. While it is true the GFS may enable the recommendation by a regional attaché of a foreign naval officer to a naval exchange program to the NWC for example, beyond that there is little within the scope of the GFS concept that specifically deals with the education and cultural awareness aspect for sailors involved in the concept that they won't develop as part of the job in theater.

I agree people and specific skills are critical to GFS effectiveness, but I don’t think specific people or specific individual skills are a determining factor in defining the objectives the Navy is seeking to achieve in the concept, nor the strategy in which to execute the concept. In the end, people will be chosen from a pool of qualified candidates, and if there is a lack of qualified candidates that problem will be assigned to those who train the fleet to fight. Existing skills in language or cultural awareness will have little effect on the strategy behind the Global Fleet Station itself, rather I think what is more likely is that GFS becomes yet another driver for the emphasis of developing those skills within the fleet as a whole.

That is the broad overview of how I see GFS. I have no idea if it is how the Navy sees the concept. I see real opportunity in the Global Fleet Station concept, but I think there are important services associated with the concept that can't be ignored and need to be considered up front. For example, I believe full Maritime Domain Awareness is a critical enabler in all aspects of the GFS concept, because providing important, reliable information is a great way to start a conversation with a regional partner. It puts the US GFS concept in the right framework, as an enabler for regional security by providing a service of value as opposed to an offshore military presence by a foreign power. Achieving full Maritime Domain Awareness is easier said than done though, so it could become a driver in the final design of what makes up a Global Fleet Station in addition to the various specialized detachments assigned.

04-18-2007, 16:21 PM	#26 (permalink)
Galrahn *Defense Professional* Join Date: 04-14-06 Posts: 405	USNS GYSGT Fred W. Stockham (T-AK 3017) was modified a few years ago to improve its medical facility, enlarge its hanger, and change its inventory to focus around mobile equipment for special operations instead of traditionally heavy equipment usually deployed on pre-positioning ships. The famous quote is that "it is out doing work we really can't talk about." The Stockham has been successful, to the point the Navy is now planning to deploy the LSD-49s for dedicated to GWOT missions. The intention appears to scale up the capability beyond what the Stockham can provide, specifically adding the deployment of more, smaller naval forces and other attachments to augment SOF forces based on lessons learned in theaters like Iraq and Afghanistan. Back to the GFS... I haven't seen anything official outside the 2006 NOC, so my opinions carry no official weight. It seems to me GFS is basically three main categories, with each category containing a series of missions that taken together are intended to 'shape and influence' regional affairs. Those categories would be Governmental, Non-Governmental, and Military. Governmental The Global Fleet Station would be an interface between US government agencies and regional local law enforcement officials, civil and military authorities, and private citizens to assess host nation needs and build working relationships. The Global Fleet Station would be the supporting element for official government activity and exchange, an enabler and sometimes the provider of capabilities required to meet local needs and challenges. This activity could include anything from assessment support for the Dept. of Agriculture on local farmland to Bird Flu research in association with the US Dept. of Health. In this category, the GFS is a supporting element, while governmental agencies take the lead. By forward deploying important capabilities on the GFS, examples could be medical teams or Seabees, the Global Fleet Station provides significant leverage in key areas of infrastructure to local populations that provide options to local US government officials that might not otherwise be available. Non-Governmental The Global Fleet Station role in NGO support to regional problems provides a unique opportunity for the United States to effect shaping operations. It is not uncommon to see NGOs active in the regions targeted for Global Fleet Stations, whether it is a Christian missionary in remote parts of a country or business interests in a populated regional port. The GFS role would range from crisis management response coordination to influencing social issues like rebuilding a local school that burned down or providing fresh water to the local population in a flooded region. Depending upon the make up of the detachments to the GFS, influence should range beyond the humanitarian to also include infrastructure improvement and developing a better understanding of regional commercial concerns. Military Despite the enabling of governmental and non-governmental influence in the region, the Global Fleet Station will consist mostly of military forces, even in provisioning for other categories of influence. The GFS military role would be to develop full maritime domain awareness of the maritime region to insure security in its AOR, while also engaging in information gathering within the region to understand the dynamics beyond the beach. This information building capability would then facilitate cooperation on a regional level, and thus directly enable other military operations including forward maritime security operations, sea control, deterrence, security cooperation, counterinsurgency, counterterrorism, counter-proliferation, air and missile defense, and other information operations. It is through naval presence, crisis response, expeditionary power projection, and civil-military operations I believe the Global Fleet Station offers a unique opportunity to enable US strategy in getting proactive during peacetime in deterrence of activity that leads to conflict. You have mentioned people, and I think you bring up a good point, unfortunately I don't believe the Navy is going to have all the answers quickly. The education and training concerns you have raised are not specific to the GFS concept, as you noted it is a larger cultural issue within the Navy, something that appears to be in discussion and in play as evident by numerous articles recently in Proceedings, and press conference statements by the NCO. However, those issues are separate to the GFS concept, and in fact are addressed independent of GFS. While it is true the GFS may enable the recommendation by a regional attaché of a foreign naval officer to a naval exchange program to the NWC for example, beyond that there is little within the scope of the GFS concept that specifically deals with the education and cultural awareness aspect for sailors involved in the concept that they won't develop as part of the job in theater. I agree people and specific skills are critical to GFS effectiveness, but I don’t think specific people or specific individual skills are a determining factor in defining the objectives the Navy is seeking to achieve in the concept, nor the strategy in which to execute the concept. In the end, people will be chosen from a pool of qualified candidates, and if there is a lack of qualified candidates that problem will be assigned to those who train the fleet to fight. Existing skills in language or cultural awareness will have little effect on the strategy behind the Global Fleet Station itself, rather I think what is more likely is that GFS becomes yet another driver for the emphasis of developing those skills within the fleet as a whole. That is the broad overview of how I see GFS. I have no idea if it is how the Navy sees the concept. I see real opportunity in the Global Fleet Station concept, but I think there are important services associated with the concept that can't be ignored and need to be considered up front. For example, I believe full Maritime Domain Awareness is a critical enabler in all aspects of the GFS concept, because providing important, reliable information is a great way to start a conversation with a regional partner. It puts the US GFS concept in the right framework, as an enabler for regional security by providing a service of value as opposed to an offshore military presence by a foreign power. Achieving full Maritime Domain Awareness is easier said than done though, so it could become a driver in the final design of what makes up a Global Fleet Station in addition to the various specialized detachments assigned.